Living Archive Milton Keynes opens its Lifelines Project Exhibition on Thursday (October 6) at Milton Keynes Central Library.
The pilot project provided the opportunity for local elderly people living alone, in care homes or in palliative care, some suffering from dementia, to gain in self-esteem, feel less isolated and feel more valued through the new pilot project ‘Lifelines’.
Ninety-year old Barbara Bennett was one of the first to tell her story; "I enjoyed it, because you don’t often get to talk about yourself for so long, do you?
"The best thing was remembering things that I’d forgotten or hadn’t thought were interesting to anybody else," she said.
Funding from MK Council and MK Community Foundation and support from Shenley Wood Village allowed Living Archive to provide training and support to volunteer listeners.
The outcome is a series of recordings produced as CDs for the interviewees and their families to keep.
Images have been digitised and archived, photo stories transcribed and the exhibition will help share project to demonstrate that everyone has a story to tell...
"I think this project is fantastic, because not everyone is a writer and writing can take time and skill, whereas everyone has the skill of conversation," said Barbara's son John.
" In Australia the knowledge of aboriginal elders is appreciated, whereas here older people are forgotten and so much has been lost."
The Lifelines Project Exhibition will be featured at Milton Keynes Central Library until November 1.
